Wish I read the reviews before spending the admission fee. I've worked for Pet Shops that have better set ups. Not impressive at all. Felt bad for the animals. read more

Not impressed. I expected more I guess. Even my two yr old daughter wasn't that impressed lol. A lil pricey for what you actually get but a great time killer read more

wow. wish i would have read the review BEFORE i went. i was hesitant but on a rainly day with nothing to do with my kids, out of desperation i went. heres what words i use to describe this crap of a place. after thought cheap small no animals there were several "touch and feel" tanks that literally had nothing in them. the murals on the wall were more entertaining than the actual live marine life. you have to pay extra to feed the bird in the atrium (eh hum, the small cage with 10 same species birds) what a waste of 30 mins for me to drive to. i should have just stayed home and play movie after movie for my kids. DONT GO! read more

I wasn't sure of what to expect when visiting the Austin Aquarium. I didn't bother to check the Yelp reviews, which may have saved us some time, but we were probably going regardless to satisfy curiosity. I think that and possibly some kind of group deals might be the only things keeping this place going. I'm sure everything has already been said about this place, from the "Lack's" furniture store signage still visible behind the Austin Aquarium sign to the low-budget randomness found inside. I will say what our experience was. Absolute sticker shock. Two adults and a child, $42. "Wash Your Hands" everywhere with dirty sinks and nasty "reusable" cloth towels. You are immediately presented with unfinished "exhibits" that have no evidence of future inhabitants. The video screens were of little help in identifying what was actually in the tanks (or even if you were looking at the right tank) -- the information came so slow that you were bored with the exhibit before the creature you wanted to know about would cycle through. Moneygrab everywhere, high-priced critter food, gifts, etc. A large group of about 40 kids was gathered around the stingray tank splashing each other with no interaction from the staff. Then...lizards, snakes, birds...what? That's great, but this is supposed to be an aquarium. Everything is low, low budget. If someone told me that this was some kind of rescue operation I would believe it. The good, once we got to the stingray tank, that was fun. My 6-year-old enjoyed the trip and all the animals, including the birds, snakes, what-have-you, but probably didn't learn anything. We didn't buy any high-priced food. The bird handler seemed mildly annoyed that he wanted to do the little trip through the cage when we said we didn't have food, but he was fairly nice about "tricking" the birds to land on our arms. The troll faced shark mural at the end of the tour to me seemed almost intentional, as in we just got trolled for $42. I guess it's supposed to be relevant for some of the older kids. I think we would only go back if someone else paid for it, or if they dropped their prices to less than half of what we paid. This is a $5 to $8 sideshow at best. read more

I love this place! The staff is amazing here and it is so much fun because you can interact with the animals. My favorite aquarium I have ever been to. read more

I so badly wanted to love this place but it was a giant disappointment. My son did enjoy being able to touch the sting rays. There is so much work that must be done in order for this attraction to be successful. We waited outside in line for 15 because there are two check In registers. The place looks very incomplete, boxes stacked around the place, empty exhibits and bare exhibits. Very few of the exhibits had name plates describing the animals, this made it difficult to learn anything. There was a name plate by the clown fish! -thanks! As another reviewer mentioned it was uncomfortably warm inside. It also took less than an hour to tour the facility, I am happy that I bought my tickets prior, online for a $2 per ticket discount. My advise is to save your money and wait until they have this place running nicely. read more

Not the biggest aquarium, but still a very good local one. Very nice worker people. LOVED touching the rays!!!

My mother was in town visiting and she wanted to see the aquarium for herself after hearing my comments on it so we took my daughter back up there. We went into the bird cage this time and started talking with the gentleman working in there about the birds and the place. I thought he seemed fairly knowledgable about the birds but keep in mind I personally don't know much, if anything, about birds. I asked if he had a background caring for and handling birds and he SHOCKED me when he told me he was actually one of the construction workers who helped build the place that they kept on because he "was such a diverse person". I couldn't believe it. I mean, this is a great gig for him and he is a super nice guy so props to him on all accounts. I would just assume that a place like this would be staffed a little differently with a more experienced staff for the interest of the animals. read more

As much as I'd like to love this place, there are just too many problems. Employees tend to get fired for trying to help animals and I heard many animals are not getting fed and the cages in the back are substandard and allow many to escape. This comes from an employee I know who wishes to remain employed or I'd print his name. Most employees are afraid to speak up, they'll lose their jobs! Several tanks are leaking from bad workmanship. Not enough light. Animals die, yes.. and aquatic life is hard to keep, but the numbers of deaths thus far has exceeded expected trends. It's obvious to me these owners care less for the welfare of it's animals and employees and only the bottom line, the almighty dollar. A beautiful snake is sick but no vet care. An animal found dead and not removed for hours. Nah - hope this place goes under and soon. read more

I love all of the animals! I love the fact that they give the octopus Hank enrichment since he is the smartest animal there. I feel like the people who run this place actually care about the animals and that is awesome. Austin Aquarium is wonderful! Some people are not happy and they would complain if the won $1 million dollars because it's not $2 million. If you want to see cool animals go and enjoy yourself at Austin Aquarium read more

A reminder of how costly that carnival on the side of Ben White and thee parking lot of highland. As well as the dinosaur thing at the old SAMs club building on North Lamar. Educational it isn't and other than trying to get the rays and the mini sharks to come to you it gets dull in this store front setting. Just wonder how long this place will stay open . read more

What a sad place, tanks are being closed one after the other. The aquarium at Waco Zoo is so much nicer. Even Pet store have better aquariums than this place. read more

These people that work here are NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY they kicked my family out both times I went to visit and to check up on my application so I recommend not to go there. They are liars and can't tell people the truth read more

C'mon, Yelp, half of these negative reviews are politically motivated (one person at least was honest enough to link to the PETA "alert" trying to shut this place down). This is not a bad aquarium for a LANDLOCKED city the size of Austin. Some of the complaints here are petty! Aquariums SHOULD be dark. And those "koi" are probably baby koi - they had baby sharks too. As for being "too small" - it's Austin, folks, not NYC, and I've been in much smaller aquariums. Over the winter I was at an aquarium near Sarasota in Florida and other than not having a large outdoor exhibit with a dolphin and a manatee, the Austin Aquarium was actually comparable in size and offerings. Clearly a lot of the naysayers here have no children. There were tons of kids there who were obviously excited. The stingray pool was very well done and a lot nicer than the one in Sarasota (which was basically a big circle with sand in it). The kids were really enjoying feeding the stingrays. There's also a bird area where you can go in and feed the parrots, which was pretty neat. As for the decor, it was fine. The electronic signs were informative (though need to be situated better so they don't tilt). Yes, there are some details they need to work on, like the "under construction" exhibit when you first walk in, and one where the fountain was jury-rigged with a cooler. But most of the tanks were in good condition, and the Aquarium had a cute "pirate" theme going. As for there being a lot of empty tanks, according to some reviewers, not so: They might have missed the odd jellyfish or eel in some of them. Anyone who says they came in and went through in 15 minutes clearly did not spend any time looking at the actual exhibits or reading the signs. I also conversed with a few staff members who were knowledgeable and friendly. Certainly not the Baltimore Aquarium, but for Austin, this is a nice little aquarium that is child friendly. As for the charge of trying to bring in illegal fish - seriously, this is an issue in a town where so many residents are buying marijuana from murderous drug cartels? I'm sorry that some fish died in Portland but I can't imagine they go into business trying to have an accident with their fish tanks. Try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and at least consider the jobs of the locals being employed here. I'd rather this aquarium in Austin than no aquarium whatsoever. I hope they grow and expand and learn from their past mistakes. I don't see anyone else trying to open an aquarium here, do you? read more

Fun times for your little ones! Such a great place to learn and explore! We went inside the bird cage and bird's landed on us as we fed them! My little one was only 10 months and she enjoyed herself read more

A great place to spend the afternoon with my granddaughter. Thoroughly enjoyed the rays and feeding the birds! Thank you Kayla!

We were really looking forward to having a family afternoon at the aquarium, but were pretty disappointed. It was kind of like being in a big pet store. Pros: -Petting lots of little stingrays -Sinks by tanks to wash hands before & after any animal interactions -Large, but overpriced, souvenir shop area Cons: -Very small -Very dark inside -A lot of the lighting they did have hurt my eyes (lots of black lights) -The tanks were small & uninteresting -There was construction going on everywhere with a lot of empty tanks & areas -Half the aquarium had bird & reptile exhibits, which was confusing -I know this is an aquarium, but I've been to many others & this one wreaked of dead fish or something equally as foul -It was not cheap, especially for what you get -Employees were not welcoming & seemed super bored -The animals didn't seem to be very happy or well taken care of Overall one visit was enough for us. read more

Completely underwhelmed. When we drove into the parking lot, tons of people were leaving. None of them had smiles and several were shaking their heads. Not a good sign but we paid a good amount to get in and give it a chance. I think if I had made the rounds to all of the yard sales, thrift stores, and craigslist ads to purchase aquariums and lizard tanks and then run around to PetSmart and a few local pet stores to fill those cages with critters and fish, I could provide Austin with a very comparable experience. This is a wonderful example of a down-and-dirty DIY aquarium and for that reason, they earn my one star for some decent ideas on how to throw something together fast with very little investment and still make a small fortune by charging quality Aquarium prices. Otherwise, I would have not given any rating. Less-than-pleasant staff, dark, cramped conditions, half the displays empty, low-quality displays filled with creatures that most can find in your local pet store, etc. are just a few on the list of reasons why this place does not appeal to me, personally. I don't want to discourage those with very little ones from going though. Small children, who do not realize that their parents are being significantly overcharged for a low-quality Aquarium, will be thrilled with some of the things they will see inside, especially when seeing a fish or a bat ray is a brand new experience. They will also enjoy the vast amount of space the aquarium devoted to human jungle gyms, party space, junk-food concessions, and gift store toys. Bottom-line: Wait for Groupon or Morgan's Deal's on tickets - Never pay full price. It simply isn't worth it. If you have children under 7, it might be worth the trip when you have absolutely nothing better to do. If you are over 7, consider going at least once so that you can groan with your friends about how bad it is and be able to say 'been there, done that. Never doing it again.' Too, considering the owners' failed history and shady business practices (check google for all the disturbing details), a few of us still need to be going once in awhile and keep an eye on the poor fish. Make sure they're being fed. P.S. Kudos to the artist who worked on the paintings in the aquarium. Without your efforts that would have been a very dreary walk-through. read more

Worst place ever.I could went to the local pet store and saw the same things.do not recommend to waste your time our money at this place.went thru the whole pace in less than an hour and that's with two kids. read more

Bad news! The fish that are involved in the interaction look miserable, like they're falling apart. It's a terribly sad looking aquarium. The employees are NOT knowledgeable of any of these, the signs are cheap (printed on paper and taped), no details of what you're looking at. I'm so disappointed to live close to this "aquarium". You can feed the fish, but man are they overfed. I bet there isn't a marine biologist on site, otherwise this would not be happening. Expensive, too. Don't do it. read more

Forced to give it one star. This is the saddest "entertainment" establishment I have ever visited. It's dark, cavey-feeling, and looks half-baked put together. One display pool, looking to be about 20 feet long, had about four or five stingrays just standing still in one corner--these animals in the ocean can swim as fast as 60 miles per hour. I asked the employer by the pool why they weren't moving and she said cheerfully "they had eaten a lot today." I thought: "Ugh! Eating a lot with so little space to move around in??". I just hope that there is no reincarnation from human to animal and that I don't come back as one of these beautiful animals to end up in a place like this "aquarium". Rather be eaten by a hammerhead. read more

Very disappointing. Two seniors and one child $38.72. This place is new and is already falling apart. I noticed several sections of the floor covering had torn away and left bare concrete. There were also several exhibits with the electronic screen that tells you what you're looking at that were falling off the wall and one that looked like a frozen PC ("blue screen"). There were at least 3 exhibits that were empty. Three empty exhibits doesn't sound bad if you had a big space, however this is the smallest aquarium we've ever seen. Took us all of 30 minutes to see it at a slow pace. Seriously, the reviewers giving above 3 stars either work for the aquarium or haven't a clue as to what constitutes a real aquarium. The only way this place makes sense is if you've never going to be able to see a real aquarium in another city. read more

My kids loved this place but for me it was hard to get past the fishy smell. I think we fed almost every animal that lives in there.

This isn't a huge aquarium but it isn't horrible. I do think the prices are outrageous for the amount of exhibits. We live close so we've been a couple times but only when we have a coupon or were with a group. I will say the guided tour was really awesome and much more educational than expected. The playground needs better lighting and needs to get rid of the television blasting and reroute the slide to stay inside the playarea. It is a pretty poor design. Overall, it is interesting to kids but I'm over it read more

Cool concept and pretty inexpensive but definitely made for children. We are coming from California where we've been to the Monterey bay aquarium, this was no where near comparable. There were also some small tanks that were sad for the fish. The sting ray tanks are fun and very interactive. It's cool that you can feed the fish and whatnot but again hubby and I were in and out pretty quickly. read more

I am pretty disappointed after our trip to the Austin Aquarium. The advertising makes it seem incredible. .. honestly it just seems like someone's hobby has expanded into a business to pay for it. Many parts of the place seem unfinished. The adult admission is really high for what there is. If it had been priced about half I might have been more impressed. It's probably a good experience for younger kids, and that's the only reason I didn't deliver 1 star. read more

I decided to take my friend's daughter out for the day and she wanted to see the fish so, I was really excited to take her here. I have read the reviews, some bad and some good so, I was hoping for the best. We walked into the store front which is strange for an aquarium but, hey it's Austin. I paid $14.95 for an adult admission ticket and $9.95 for a children's admission ticket. We also purchased feeding the animals tickets for around $10.00 for 4 tokens. We then entered and there were some tanks with fish in them that the child I was with admired. I couldn't help but, looking at the small tanks and large fish or maybe it was the fact that the tanks were low enough for kids to stand on the foe rocks and reach in with no aquarium staff to stop them. This really bothered me not only for children's safety but, also for the animal's safety. There were also empty tanks which was disappointing. We then entered the area with the sting rays and there we were able to cash in a token to feed them. They gave us tiny ramekins of what appeared to be dead shrimp. We went to the tank and looked up to the screen where it said to cup them in a closed fist with the shrimp hanging out and the sting rays would come and grab them under water. This method did not work as I had my hand under water for 10 minute and an angry 3 year old who just wanted to see them grab it. I came up with my own technique which included dropping them in the water and when they would come and flop up along the side, I would drop them shrimp and they would eat them. I advise this if you are trying to feed them. This got the 3 year old a lot of petting the string ray time and she was laughing and having such a good time that I cashed in a second token and let the other kids around us try it as well. This was about my only spot of zen happiness in this place. Then you go on to another room that has some fish in a tank, playground area, party area (which there was a party going on) and a bird feeding area. They also have two novelty game items like crushed penny souvenirs and such that are about $5.00 per keepsake penny and also a wind tunnel thing that you can pay for your kids to play in. The 3 year old I was with enjoyed the playground area and then we moved on to trying to feed the birds. I ended up with a bird on my head which was fine but, please note if you have grabby children this area is not for you. It was mildly successful the first time and then after we toured the tiny shark area and saw the parrot who was depressed followed by the iguana we went back to feed the birds again. This time she grabbed a bird and got bit. This was totally her fault but, I also feel like the staff is ill equipped to meet the demands of children. My overall feeling is that the animals are depressed and not really taken care of in their tiny cages. You can tell this when they are huddled together in a corner wishing for better or when a parrot should talk and just makes horrible sounds like it is in pain, hunched over and won't look at you. We purchased a way over priced tiny snow globe on the way out for $7.99 with tax and I couldn't run out fast enough. This is truly depressing! read more

Best advice on other reviews: keep your expectations in check. I've been to some amazing aquariums. This is not it. However - that being said - my kids love this place. Its very hands on, they get to feed animals, touch animals, go into the aviary with 120 birds. I bought a groupon for $90 for 10 kid birthday party. I had never been to this aquarium (my kids had though and liked it) but I've seen the bad press and read mixed reviews. I was worried, not going to lie. For $90 - I got ten admissions, 10 goodie bags (that included a free ticket for kid party guest to return for free w/an adult?!), tshirt for birthday child, lanyard with aquarium id for birthday child, table reserved for 2 hours, a birthday "person" who brought the animals over and passed out animal food etc. We also got to bring in outside cake/pizza and drinks. FINALLY - a kids birthday party where I didn't feel so unbelievably TAKEN (like robbed of my wallet practically). read more

This is not a major tourist attraction, nor is it the sort of place you HAVE to take your out-of-town guests to. This is more the sort of place where you go if the kids are bored and you need to kill some time on a rainy afternoon. The horror stories from other reviews led me to expect worse than it was. I will give the staff credit for this: it is excellent, FOR WHAT THEY HAD TO WORK WITH. But they had precious little to work with. This building is not up to the task. For example, they are sort of forced to go with an industrial-type look of bare rafters, and divider walls that don't extend all the way to the ceiling. This DOES help give many exhibits a very open feeling. However, there is also a free-flight bird cage, full of very boisterous and loud lorikeets. Combined with the open layout, it makes them audible throughout the entire building. This also causes lighting issues. Because there are no overhead lights, (sort of expected in aquariums, but not bird exhibits!), it makes the reptile and bird sections feel dark - in some cases, the lighting is almost dim, except directly beneath the animals' heat lamps. There is no natural light in the building. I also hope the octopus gets some stimulation. There was a bit on the macaw's cage describing HIS toys and stimulus, but octopodes are similarly intelligent, and his tank seemed rather - boring. Other than that, the fishes all appeared healthy and well-fed, and the tanks were all clean and clear. There was one exhibit that looked to be in-progress, but that was the only uninhabited one we saw. The tanks themselves were not spectacular - my five-year-old was distracted away from them as soon as she saw the little playscape in the back. Do not expect large-scale, full-wall, 20,000 gallon masterpieces. Pleasant and pretty, but not awesome. Again, the staff just wasn't given much to work with - take out the reptiles and birds, and give us a showpiece tank! If you go, bring cash. Animal feed is available for many exhibits, and they do take credit at all of the stands, but I felt silly charging two dollars here, three dollars there, another two dollars here. Also regarding the animal feed, be mentally prepared, too - this isn't all sanitized pellets. This is krill and anchovies. It's slimy. read more

So I bought the tickets online, to get the two dollar discount, AND THEN I read the reviews. Needless to say they were terrible...BUT I have to say the at I was pleasantly surprised with our experience at the aquarium. I took my two daughters 14 & 11, for something fun to do over spring break. Yes, the line was long to get in, but once your in, it's go at your own pace. I touched a starfish and a sting ray and that was pretty cool! Now let's be clear this is an aquarium, in austin, and it's fairly new so did I expect San Diego or even Corpus Christi sized aquarium?? No! And if you do, then your heading to the wrong place! The whole experience took us about an hour. The staff seemed pretty knowledgable about the animals and It was something fun to do that we will probably check out again in the next couple of years. Definitely go online and get the $2 discount and I think it's worth it to check it out at least once. Just don't expect too much people! It's a fairly new establishment. Give them time! All in all we enjoyed our trip to the aquarium. read more

We visited the Austin Aquarium this past Saturday. Sure, as mentioned in other reviews, the aquarium occupies the anchor store space in a retail center, but location aside, it's really a fun spot for families and kids. We did the 45 minute Octo Encounter with Kiersten, and it was awesome. It's amazing how strong the octopus is, and it's super interesting learning so much about the animal, it's life, and it's habitat. It even has a personality! Thank you Kiersten for an awesome octopus encounter! We also had a lot of fun with the parakeets and the lorikeets. Kids will love feeding the animals, especially the birds. The parakeets come right to you and land on your hand and head. You can also feed rays, sharks, a tortoise, and plenty of other sea creatures. Good times. read more

Here's the lowdown: Walk up and the exterior is filthy, windows are dusty, dirty and streaky. Not a good first impression. Feels slightly like entering one of those haunted houses they throw in old rundown shopping centers (or closed grocery stores, ahem) and looks like it too. It appears that instead of hiring a contractor and architect, some person not qualified to do so designed and built the whole thing. The lighting is super dim, probably so you don't notice what a dump the place is. The bathrooms are shoddy afterthoughts and all the walls are only 1/2 walls and you can see the electrical conduit at the top. Layout goes something like some fish/jelly tanks, starfish petting tank, ray petting tank, some fish tanks, another ray petting tank just like the first one, some more fish tanks, and iguana and yes, a third ray petting tank in case you missed the first two. And we were horrified to see they are adding a baby fur seal exhibit... in a very small former turtle exhibit. WHAT?! Very sad and I really hope that those baby seals truly don't end up in this dump. All in all this took 30 mins and cost $32 since luckily the baby (13 months) was free. No attention to detail, shoddy exhibits. My bet: by 2015 they will be closed. read more

My 2.5 yr old and I just visited the aquarium this morning. Yes, it's in a strip mall. No, it isn't anything like Houston and Dallas aquariums (nor is it trying to be). Yes, it's next door to the Salvation Army. Sure, the set up is a tad cheap. And yes, it's dark. Shouldn't it be so you can view the animals better? My daughter loved it. There were a few exhibits/tanks that were under construction, but for the most part, this place is cute and a fun 1.5 hr walk-through to escape the heat. I think it's come a long way from when it first opened based on reading other reviews but there still looks to be more work in the coming months, so give it a chance! My daughter absolutely loved the stingray pool where you can pet them. It was nice that we could spend as much time as we wanted and there were plenty of stingrays to go around so all the kiddos could pet them. We didn't need to purchase food for them as they came right up to you and the surface. I also enjoyed the birds and the reptile section. The other reviews were commenting how this is odd, but this is pretty common at other aquariums...and who really cares? More for my tot to see! The sweet employee working the Lorekeet aviary was knowledgeable and patient with my little one. We didn't have to buy food to enter and there was no additional cost. She also let us hang out in the aviary as long as we wanted, which was nice. She allowed my little one to hold the birds and made a point to talk about them and get them close to us. Do I think the price could be less? Sure! Do I wish there was more to see? Sure! But for my little one, she loved it and again, it was sort of nice to not have it be so big and overwhelming. It only took about 1.5 hrs to go through (and that's b/c all the time we spent at the stingray area and aviary). There's another area where you can see sharks (small ones) and feed them and pet them. There also have 2 baby sharks and shark eggs on display, which was cool. I think we'll go again, maybe in 6 months, to check out the improvements and for my little one to experience it. Check it out, but know ahead of time it isn't a massive, fancy aquarium. It will only be around 1-2 hrs of your time, and purchase your tix online (you get them cheaper). read more

Went to this "attraction" on 12/15/2013. If you do not have time to read the whole review, let me summarize it for you: DON'T GO, THIS PLACE IS A RIP-OFF. From the moment you walk in from the parking lot to the entrance, to the moment you exit the place, there is nothing worth spending your money on. The overall feel for the place is that of amateurishness, cheap and low-class. The business model seems to be: fish tanks with purple lights + suckers-willing-to-pay $12.95 = aquarium. This is what you will see if you still go: 1-The place is located in a strip mall, between a used-book store and a Salvation Army in what was a former LACKS furniture store. This is a major turn-off, if the owners wanted this to be a high-caliber attraction; this location was a mistake both from the esthetics point of view, and the all-around feel of cheapness. The place is small; it does not take more than 45 minutes to see all. Because of this, it over-crowds easily. 2-There is still construction debris and boarded windows out by the entrance. 3-There was not a corner where I did not notice incomplete or rushed construction work: unpainted wall sections, paint bleeding into another wall instead of a clean edge, dry-wall corners not completed, floor sections without a final coat, ceiling acoustic panels with nicks and scratches. And this is only what is visible; who knows what else is going on under the cover of the ridiculous level of darkness. And the worst offender: all the glass was dirty with construction dust. From the glass windows at the entrance to every fish tank, the smudges of a rush wiping were so obvious it makes me wonder if the owners have not heard of a product called Windex. Advice to owners: you are running a business based on the PRESENTATION and DISPLAY of your items, the glass visibility should be impeccable. 4-The whole place is way too dark. Sections with low-level lighting are necessary for certain animals, but not for the whole place, especially in the kid's play area, the "events" area, and the places with pirate mannequins, which I presume are there to serve as photo props. Speaking of a kid's area, the place has a Jungle Gym for the kids, but it was tucked in a corner so dark that most people miss it. Besides, who you let your kid play there with such low visibility? That is just an accident waiting to happen. 5-About a third of the tanks were empty with a "Coming Soon" sign. In addition to the darkness of the place and the dirty glass, some of the fish tanks have the worse lighting I have seen. Either entirely blue or purple. This totally conceals the true color of the fishes themselves and makes them hard to see. This choice of lamp color scheme is more suitable for a stoner to look at his fluorescent posters, not to enhance the natural pigment of the fishes' skin. Forget about the idea of trying to take photos, it is too dark for your smart phone to photograph. The displays are poorly labeled, making it hard to identify the creatures. Do not be misled by the website, the photos are from stock, it is not what you actually going to see once you are there. The overall experience was all around disappointing and I will not return. I will make sure to tell my friends not to go either, even when the tickets are $2 because I doubt this place will remain in business after a year. Do yourself a favor, if you want to see fish go to Cabela's on Buda for free, or pay and go to Sea World in San Antonio. Or if you have time for the trip, go to Dallas or Houston read more

. Work in progress. Line was out the door. The website said children age 2-11 had to pay. The sign on door said children 2 and under were free. So if you have a two year old do NOT pay! They did offer to give me a refund after my credit card info goes through later tonight. We'll see... Overall it is pretty small. The wait was long. They had about 3-4 people manning the ticket desk which also doubled as checkout counter for gift shop. I think they are understaffed. The booth to buy food for the stingray was still closed an hour and a half after opening time. The slide in the "food court" area was closed. They had a private party in the area. Some of the exhibits were not open yet. The sink and soap was a nice idea but the towel dispenser was stuck at the end of the roll at both sinks and it didn't seek as hygienic as just having some hand sanitizers around. For some reason they had a couple birds and a section of snakes and iguanas. The artificial plants in the iguana tanks were difficult to overlook. The bird section was closed so we were not able to feed although hours posted clearly said 10-2. It's a cute idea but definitely way overpriced for about 15-20min worth of content. $12 with web discount for an adult. If it were about $5 I probably would not have minded as much. read more

Love this place for when it's rainy or too hot or cold outside. My kids love the hands on aspect.

Love aquariums as I am avid scuba diver. This place should be investigated for animal abuse. There is no super-vision while touching the animals. The tanks are extremely dirty and over crowded. I am surprised a city like Austin would allow such a place. Very dissappointed. read more

Very interactive and affordable, I love that they offer memberships and there's something for everyone! Friendly staff and happy creatures!

Wow, after reading all these negative reviews, I felt I had to give my 2 cents.... Yes, they opened too early and not everything is finished but it is not nearly as terrible as previous yelpers have claimed. There were plenty of knowledgeable employees throughout the aquarium eager to teach you about the animals and answer any question you may have. They were all very nice and professional. A few exhibits were marked "coming soon" but most of them were ready to go and we really enjoyed all of them, especially the rays, sharks, and birds. I do agree that it is eerily dark but maybe that's for the animals' well being. I still don't understand why the play scape in the far back corner doesn't have much lighting. Overall a pleasant experience for me, my husband, and our 20 month old son. We're excited to go back when it's 100% up and running. read more

Way overpriced for the experienced. Walking through the aquarium I was constantly feeling sad for the animals trapped there. Everything has a very cheap feel. We will never return. read more